Laundry cleaning and stain removal devices are generally known in the industry. One example of such a device is a unit dose device. One form of these devices are water-soluble pouches or pods which are filled with cleaning compositions or solutions such as powdered detergents, liquid rinse aids, fabric softeners, and the like. When using a washing machine to clean laundry, water used during the cleaning cycle dissolves the water-soluble pouch and releases the contents contained therein and thus fills the wash basin with the cleaning composition to assist in cleaning the laundry. The amount of cleaning composition contained in each water-soluble pouch typically corresponds to an amount needed for a single cleaning cycle.
These pouches are typically either placed directly into the wash basin prior to initiating the cleaning cycle or may be placed in a housing or shell prior to placing the unit in the wash basin. These shells generally include a number of holes which allow water to pass into the shell and thus contact the pouch to ultimately dissolve the same and allow its contents to disperse.
Articles of laundry may become soiled by a variety of different stains. Because the nature of each stain may be different, it is oftentimes difficult to effectively remove a stain from a fabric or an article of clothing. Further, when using water-soluble pouches disposed within the wash basin, performance of the cleaning composition is often diluted, thus the overall effectiveness of removing a localized stain may decrease. As a result, consumers may be forced to wash the stained article of laundry multiple times, thus using additional water and/or cleaning compositions. By repeatedly washing articles of laundry, costs incurred by consumers may increase. Further, the integrity of the article of clothing may decrease with each subsequent wash and/or cleaning cycle, and may be further decreased by rubbing, scuffing, and/or scrubbing the stained area to attempt to remove the stain.